Birthday Cake
by perksofbeing-areader
Summary: In which Percy attempts to bake a blue cake for Annabeth's birthday :) Fluffy Percabeth one-shot.


"Shouldn't this be thicker?" Percy muttered to himself as he stirred the cake batter some more. "Maybe I shouldn't be mixing this as much. Oh, wait! The food coloring!" He rushed over to snatch the blue food coloring from its box on the counter. He wasn't much of a cook, but today was Annabeth's birthday and he was determined to make it special. And of course, it wouldn't be a birthday without a blue cake.

Percy attempted to measure three drops of the color into the bowl, but squeezed a little too hard and emptied half the bottle instead. "Oops," he grimaced, hoping that it wouldn't mess up the batter too much. As he mixed in the dye, turning the cake a deep navy blue-not exactly what he'd had in mind, but close enough-the phone rang. He cursed under his breath and ran to answer it, spoon still in hand. "Hello," he said into the receiver.

"Percy! I had a question for you." It was Annabeth. Putting her on speakerphone, he made his way back to the kitchen and replied, "Fire away, Wise Girl."

"Well I was thinking that maybe we could hang out later, go to Central Park or something. My dad and stepmom aren't home until five, and the twins are in day care, so I'm pretty much free all day today. Can you?" she asked.

Percy glanced over at the cake batter. "I'm kind of...busy right now," he replied, "But why don't you come over in..." he squinted at the back of the cake mix carton to see how long it would take to bake-_stupid dyslexia, _he thought-"twenty minutes?"

"Sounds good! Later, Seaweed Brain."

"Happy-" he tried to say, but she'd already hung up. Oh, well. He'd tell her in person later. Pouring the mix into a pan and sliding it in the oven, Percy got halfway through cleaning the kitchen before giving up. Satisfied with how far he'd gotten, considering his ADHD, he went into his room and changed into a shirt that didn't have blue batter all over it. Stretching out on his bed, he closed his eyes. _Just a power nap, _he thought. _Baking really tires you out!_

Twenty minutes later exactly, he woke to a buzzing noise ringing throughout the apartment. Annabeth was here! Leaping out of bed and rushing to the door, he opened it to find his girlfriend standing there with an amused expression on her face. "Took you long enough," she laughed. Seeing the state of his hair, she added, "You were sleeping, weren't you?"

Percy grinned sheepishly and ushered her in, giving her a quick kiss and saying happy birthday. She ran her fingers through his already mussed hair and asked, "So, wanna go somewhere? See a movie, hang out in Central Park, go have lunch..." she trailed off. "What do you think?"

"Anywhere is fine. You pick-it's your birthday." After talking it over for a while, they decided to picnic in Central Park, because it was such a beautiful day. Suddenly, she sniffed the air. "Is something...burning?"

"The cake!" Percy yelped, rushing into the kitchen. Smoke was leaking out the sides of the oven. As he reached towards the cake pan, Annabeth ran in after him.

"Percy!" she demanded. "What is going-wait!"

It was too late. Percy had grabbed the hot pan, immediately dropping it onto the tiled floor. Rushing over to the sink, he turned on the water and doused his burned hand. It only took a few seconds to heal, what with his son-of-the-sea-god powers, but turning back to his precious cake, he saw it was beyond hope. The already dark blue cake had turned black, and smoke still puffed from the oven in a weak stream. His levelheaded girlfriend, however, had found an oven mitt, picked the burnt creation off the ground, placed it on the counter, and turned off the oven.

"The cake," Percy moaned. "It's ruined."

Annabeth finally seemed to understand. "You made this for me?" she asked. Percy nodded dejectedly. So much for his amazing birthday surprise. But when he looked up, he saw that Annabeth was barely suppressing a smile.

"You're laughing at me!" he protested.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well," she said, "it is kind of funny. But really sweet, too! Don't get me wrong!" Glancing over at the burned cake, he chuckled. Then they both started laughing uncontrollably and finally caught their breath several minutes later. Seeing the cake again, a fresh wave of giggles escaped his girlfriend as she kissed him and declared, "This has definitely been a birthday to remember!"


End file.
